Days passed and the clock ticked, like a journey we made a ‘successful’ end to 2011. Although I couldn’t achieve all I planned to achieve in 2011, I am grateful to God for the mere fact that I made it to the end. If we look back, we will be greeted with the fact that we began 2011 with so many people who did not make it to the end. So for a fact, I am grateful to God for His Mercies, Love, and Grace showered on me throughout the past year.
How was New Year’s Eve with you? I was at church on New Year’s Eve. And few minutes before we entered 2012, a friend shouted, “Two minutes more.” Then we began to pray; thanking God for His goodness and mercies. We prayed our way into the New Year, and crowned it with singing and dancing to the glory of God who had dealt wondrously with us.
With all the anticipation and anxieties, 2012 is finally here and we’ll have to live it out. It is New Year, and of course, new resolutions. I don’t know about you, but I did not achieve all I wanted to achieve in 2011. But that is not keeping me from making new resolutions.
Talk of new resolutions, this question keeps crossing my mind: "Does the devil make New Year resolutions too?" I think he does. Think about this more seriously; what’s the number one thing that hindered the achievement of your resolutions for 2011? The Bible said, “The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but [Jesus] came that we might have life and that we will have it more abundantly” – John 10:10. And if Jesus be for us, then no one can be against us. So as it is New Year and we are making new resolutions, the devil too will probably be making new resolutions against us. But No weapon formed against us shall prosper!
This year is the year of God’s divine governance. No weapon formed against us shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against us in judgment shall be condemned in Jesus’ name. The Lord had said that those that trust in Him shall be like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved nor shaken (Psalm 125:1). That is our portion for 2012; we shall not be moved nor shaken in Jesus’ name.
If there is any good thing we could not do in the past year, LORD we are asking for the strength to do it this year. Equip us with the right tools, right wisdom, right knowledge and understanding, and help us to live out our lives to please you, both in 2012 and beyond.
I don’t know what your New Year resolutions are, but one thing that I want to battle out this year is lying. As Christians, we know we shouldn’t lie (Exodus 20:16), but it seems lying has been woven into our culture so perfectly that we don’t even see it what it happens. Like Peter, we sometimes even lie about our faith. But God wants to deliver us, and I believe He is doing it this year.
The Holy Spirit taught me something today and I want to share with you all. For my Bible study today, I read Romans 9:1 where Apostle Paul said, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost.” As I meditated on this scripture, I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Revelations chapter 3. So I moved to Revelations chapter 3 and here is what it says:
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
As I read the above scripture, I was like, “Lord, this is me. Please forgive me.” And with that I repented and ask forgiveness from my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This year, I want to walk in TRUTH, cherish the TRUTH and embrace the TRUTH in all my dealing with people and with God. This is my resolution for 2012. What about you?
Happy New Year!
